By Ian S Palmer
IBF Super Bantamweight Champion Kiko Martinez of Spain will attempt to defend his title for the third time when he takes on undefeated top contender Carl Frampton of Northern Ireland in Belfast on Saturday, September 6. These two previously met in February of 2013 with Frampton coming out on top by a ninth-round round stoppage. Martinez won the title last August when he stopped Jonatan Romero and he’s defended it against Jeffrey Mathebula and Hozumi Hasegawa. He’s on a bit of a roll since losing to Frampton as he’s won four in a row. This fight can be seen live in Britain on BoxNation.
The 28-year-old Martinez will enter the fight with a 31-4 record with 23 Kos while the 27-year-old Frampton owns a perfect mark of 18-0 along with 12 Kos. Martinez is two inches shorter than the challenger at 5-feet-3-inches in height, but he has a four-inch reach advantage at 66 to 62 inches. Martinez has a lot more pro experience than Frampton as the champion has fought 198 rounds compared to 87 by the challenger. Martinez last fought in April when he stopped Hasegawa in the seventh round. Frampton’s latest contest was also in April when he knocked out Hugo Fidel Cazares in the second.
Both boxers should be confident heading into the bout. Frampton because he’s already stopped Martinez and has never been beaten and Martinez because he’s on a winning streak and is now a world champion. Frampton didn’t have too much of a problem in their first meeting, but Martinez is always dangerous because of his better-than-average power. Frampton will also have the added advantage of fighting in front of his hometown fans.
Frampton owns the better boxing skills here while Martinez likes to put the pressure on and brawl. The champion doesn’t fare too well against boxers though and that’s why Frampton beat him last year. Martinez will simply try to swarm all over Frampton and get as close as possible. However, he’ll find that the challenger will match him punch for punch and catch him as he’s coming in.
Frampton is a good boxer with no noticeable weak spots. As long as his chin holds out he should be able to use his superior skills to keep Martinez at bay. Frampton can adapt and change styles in the ring while Martinez is basically a slugger who doesn’t have the skills to change to plan B if plan A isn’t working.
Prediction
The biggest question mark in this fight will be if Frampton has trained properly for it or has he taken it too lightly. He could be overconfident due to his big knockout punch over Martinez in their first fight. But that’s unlikely since this is for a world title and that’s the goal of all professional boxers. Also, will this just be a repeat of their first fight or will Martinez show up with a new game plan? From what we’ve seen of Martinez he seems to fight just one way and that’s as a straight ahead banger. Look for Frampton to land the cleaner, quicker shots and to take a relatively easy decision or score a late knockout.
